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Since graduating from college and becoming a professional golfer four months ago, Kim Kaufman has felt the thrill of chasing her LPGA dream.

Like most worthy pursuits, her path has included highs and lows – or birdies and bogeys, in this case.

Kaufman, a 21-year-old Clark native who starred at Texas Tech, found success on the Symetra Tour developmental circuit this summer. The top 10 finishers on the money list earn LPGA cards, and Kaufman appeared on pace to make that cut.

But when the Symetra Tour Championship wrapped up Monday in Daytona Beach, Fla., she found herself 12th in total tour earnings with $32,152, less than $1,500 from the top 10.

A matter of only a few strokes, but enough to delay her dream.

“It was not a fun week,” says Kaufman, who is back in Clark to take a break from golf before moving to Florida at the end of October. “I had images of leaving there with my tour card, and I left with nothing. With every bogey, you could sort of see it slipping away.”

The main problem for Kaufman was that she didn’t join the Symetra Tour until June, finishing up a Texas Tech career that included a school-record stroke average of 74.0 and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division I championships as a junior.

Her late start on tour meant that she only played 10 events, compared to 14 or 15 for many of the other top players. Though she won the Island Resort Championship in Harris, Mich., on June 30 to vault up the money list, she had a small margin for error.

“Since I missed the first five tournaments, I had to play solid every single event,” says Kaufman, who ranked fourth on tour with a scoring average of 71.2. “The (tour championship) wasn’t a good event -- in fact, it was one of my worst – and I couldn’t afford that. It’s harder to take when it’s the last event of the season.”

The final two tournaments were in Florida, and Kaufman seemed in good shape with a No. 8 standing heading into the Volvik Championship in Kissimmee on Sept. 20-22.

She shot 4-under par for the event, but several other players lit up the course, pushing her into a tie for 27th place at that tournament, worth only $823. Suddenly, she was 11th on the money list heading into the final event of the season at the LPGA International course in Daytona Beach.

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Worse yet, Kaufman’s normally fluid stroke – built with the help of longtime instructor Todd Kolb of Sioux Falls – was showing some cracks.

“I knew what to expect,” says Kaufman of the tour championship. “It’s a typical Florida resort course, but it just wasn’t happening. When you try to correct swing flaws in the middle of a tournament, it usually doesn’t go well.”

The plan now for Kaufman is to take several weeks off before moving to Florida, where she’ll share an apartment (on a golf course) in Lake Mary with fellow Symetra player Marissa Steen, who finished 16th on the money list.

Both golfers will now try to qualify for the LPGA through qualifying school. Since they finished in the top 20, they advance straight to the final round of Q-School, which is Dec. 4-8 on the same course the tour championship was held.

Kaufman, who owns four Class B state high school titles and three state women's amateur crowns, is hoping for a happier ending this time. As she tries to follow in the footsteps of Sioux Falls native and former LPGA standout Kris Tschetter, the need to stare down adversity is simply par for the course.

“It’s been a huge learning experience for me,” says Kaufman. “I’ve played a lot of high school and college golf, but the professional game is a lot different. It’s so much more competitive and there are so many things you have to learn. In a lot of ways, I’m just getting started.”